Republic of Jazz: Stefano Risso

Showing posts with label Stefano Risso. Show all posts

Friday, March 11, 2022

Barber Mouse - Heretic Monk (March 11, 2022 Auand Records)

Barber Mouse, Heretic Monk

A heretic approach might be the best way to deal with Monk

Italian double bass player and composer Stefano Risso has a long experience in working with acoustic and electronic music. He connects avant-garde with tradition, improvisation with songwriting, to create a unique soundscape.

He formed the Italian trio Barber Mouse along with drummer Mattia Barbieri (who collaborated with Richard Galliano) and pianist Fabrizio Rat (a popular name in France, well-known for his techno/contemporary music skills) around 15 years ago. Their debut studio album, released by Auand in 2012, was a tribute to electro-pop band Subsonica, one of the most popular acts in Italy, and it featured Subsonica’s frontman: Samuel.

Ten years later, Barber Mouse’s second studio album is filled with many of the ideas that marked the first one: experimentation, research on timber, acoustic instruments adapted and played in a way that makes them sound like electronic instruments instead. While the first album kept away from jazz, the new one dives into it, with a tribute to a jazz giant such as Thelonious Monk, to his compositions and the standards he reinvented.

“Heretic Monk”, published by Auand Records, will be out on Friday, March 11th. The singles will appear on all streaming platforms starting Friday, February 25th.

The new material was recorded in 2011, but it remained untouched for a long time. «We don’t really know why – Stefano Risso recalls – Maybe it’s because we were carried away by the production, and in the meantime we all have walked different paths. But when listening to it again, its contemporaneity hits. When you look at your projects from afar, you can focus on the essential. I think it’s more relevant today than it was when we recorded it. This is why we wanted it to resurface today.»

Harmony is key in “Heretic Monk” – and it somehow recalls fractal geometry. Some of Monk’s signature chords in his works and piano voicings are put back to their basic outline, reduced to four-note chords and used in place of scales and more traditional chords. Following this logic, every tune in the album has been re-harmonized – even improvisations follow this rule, which limits the number of notes you can use. On the listening side, you feel like the harmony is expanding upon itself, just like the fractal structures we can see in nature – such as crystals or leaves.

«The prep work before recording has been quite long. We were somehow forced to get rid of any language stereotype to play with this four-note chord approach. We couldn’t use familiar phrasing because it wouldn’t fit. So we’ve studied and rehearsed hard to make our way through such strict harmonies – even if they are respectful of the original ones, they are also quite distant from them.»

«I think the major element in this album – Fabrizio Rat adds – is the process of transforming existing music. It’s like being in front of a language you know, after you forgot it because of amnesia. We found ourselves interpreting those signs with a new logic, using harmonic rules that are quite far from the usual jazz rules, and undoubtedly pushed by our love for Monk’s limitless music.»

1 Carolina Moon (Joe Burke, Benny Davis)

2 Epistrophy (Thelonious Monk)

3 Ask Me Now (Thelonious Monk)

4 Monk's Dream (Thelonious Monk)

5 All Alone (Irving Berlin)

6 Lulu's Back in Town (Al Dubin, Harry Warren)

7 Ugly Beauty (Thelonious Monk)

8 This Is My Story, This Is My Song (Fanny Crosby, Phoebe Knapp)

9 Friday The 13th (Thelonious Monk)

Barber Mouse

Fabrizio Rat - piano

Stefano Risso - double bass

Mattia Barbieri - drums

auand.com

PRE-ORDER

Wednesday, February 24, 2021

Ananasnna - Veloci come in 500 (2021 Auand Records)

Unfiltered, curious, bold: it’s Ananasnna

An unusual double duo plus electric bass

fighting formalities in “Veloci come in 500”

Led by Italian composer Stefano Risso, the band features

two alto sax players (Simone Garino and Davide Pignata)

and two drummers (Michele Bussone and Nicholas Remondino)

Stefano Risso

By picking the glorious Fiat Cinquecento as their cover image, Ananasnna kick off their game of references that mixes vintage and futuristic approaches. With the sharp dexterity of an artisan – one that rejects ready-to-use solutions – “Veloci come in 500” (“Fast as in a Cinquecento”) is Ananasnna’s debut album released by Auand Records. The Italian quintet actually identifies as a double duo plus one – the “one” being bass player and composer Stefano Risso, who penned all eight tracks for his four young aides: Simone Garino and Davide Pignata, both on alto sax, and Michele Bussone and Nicholas Remondino, both on drums.

Among the many stories of this record, the place of honor is for the spark that made it happen: a “recording jam” with Piedmont-based musicians suggested by Studio Rubedo’s Manuel Volpe. What started as a trio (sax, bass, and drums) quickly evolved into a double duo plus one. «Doubling an instrument in an ensemble – Stefano Risso recalls – is something I always find very interesting. It’s a sort of auditory illusion. It may not sound like you’re listening to two musicians on the same instrument. Instead, it might feel like a sort of four-armed “music Shiva”!»

Risso wanted this project to involve several creative challenges – he never meets the rest of the band. «Luckily everyone understood my intention. They are young and talented, with strong identities. They played along.» He listened to them online. They would only meet for one rehearsal, and then at the recording session. After five hours, a record was born.

Risso’s brave approach highlighted the qualities in the band. Drummers Michele Bussone e Nicholas Remondino «are interested in researching on timbers – he says – though in different directions. This creates more depth in the music, enriched by simple polyrhythms on different meters. Simone Garino is always in the frontline when more energy is needed. Davide Pignata loves afro beat and African groove. Not having a harmonic instrument partially conceals the texture: counterpoints arise. I think it’s music based on groove and at the same time it’s solid. Looking closer at the details can reveal many surprises.»

The band as a whole is key in all tracks (especially “Scatta il rosso”, “Peso a valle” and the only song in the album, “Arearitroso”). «When you find yourself in a recording session – Risso adds – and you don’t know much of the others, it’s likely that everyone’s ego tries to dominate, forgetting that music is only possible when playing together. This is why I tried to provide, as much as possible, structures that forced everyone to stay focused on the entire group. If I think of Ananasnna, words like unfiltered occur to me. That feeling of meeting someone for the first time and immediately wanting to uncover all of their traits, digging deep, and being amazed.»

1. Scatta il rosso 05:57

2. Peso a valle 04:06

3. Spariglio 05:36

4. Tu di là io DC Comics 05:54

5. ZeroCalorie 03:35

6. Il Gran San Bernardo 05:46

7. Le assurdiSio 04:34

8. Arearitroso 02:27

9. XXXNem_o 16:35

Ananasnna is:

Stefano Risso EKO 995 violin electric bass

Simone Garino alto sax

Davide Pignata alto sax

Michele Bussone drums

Nicholas Remondino drums

all compositions by Stefano Risso published by Jazz Engine

Produced by Stefano Risso

Exectuive producer: Marco Valente

Recorded at Rubedo Recordings, Torino, Italy

Mixed and mastered by Manuel Volpe

Pre-order

Monday, February 5, 2018

Edna - Born To Be Why (AUAND RECORDS February 9, 2018)

Polyrhythms, electronics and fluidity

Edna’s look on contemporary embraces melody

“Born To Be Why” by Andrea Bozzetto, Stefano Risso and Mattia Barbieri

is out now on Auand Records,

A long work of experimentation

that keeps in mind the very own nature of music

EDNA’s music path is engaged, devoted and cheerful, like a kid who tries all the possibilities of a new toy. Andrea Bozzetto (Fender Rhodes, Korg MS20), Stefano Risso (double bass) and Mattia Barbieri (drums) have disassembled and put back together rhythms, melodies and music frames, to find the final shape of their new project “Born To Be Why”, out now on Auand Records.

The three musicians’ obsession is to be found in experimentation, research of new timbres and an accurate attention to balance unusually intertwining rhythms. But even the most crooked poly-metrics are able to reveal a consistent melody, as it’s evident when approaching tracks as the serene “Gomma Blues”, the kaleidoscopic “Iride” or the band’s acid-dream version of “Pure Imagination”. What constantly stands out is the sound of the trio, carefully polished and able to be recognized even when the soundscape expands to highlight a Fender Rhodes, a synth bass, or the use of live electronics.

Suspended among jazz, avant-garde and contemporary approach, EDNA – who has already taken part in several festivals – is a tribute to those who had fun with music while opening new gates for the generations to come (“Life on Mars?”).

And it also brings a dowry of different collaborations for each member with prominent names of Italian and international jazz such as Richard Galliano, Javier Girotto, Gianni Coscia, Fabrizio Bosso and Francesco Bearzatti.